This is the first in a series of profiles of the companies who are trying to automate the out of home sales process. Insider counts at least 13 companies which are trying to develop websites to facilitate buying and selling out of home advertising: AdBidx (Australia), ADstruc, AdSemble, Adquick, Bitposter (UK) DoMedia, Fliphound, Kinetic, MyAdbooker (Netherlands), rVue, Site Tour (Australia), Vistar and Xaxis Places. Today Insider talks with AdSemble’s CEO and founder Matthew Olivieri about the company’s product.

Company: AdSemble

Headquarters: 5353 Almaden Expy, San Jose, CA 95118

Phone: 855-972-7336

Product: Self-serve website where out of home companies can manage the process of selling digital billboard space to advertisers.

Status: Started in 2008. Privately held.

Matthew, what gave you the idea for AdSemble?

The idea of AdSemble was derived from the fact that I had observed very heavy fragmentation in the digital out of home advertising industry whereby all the digital out of home networks were being individually operated. Advertising on these networks was being individually contracted, delivered, measured and invoiced. I saw an opportunity to create a single point destination in order to achieve scale and efficiency in the buying, selling and transacting of advertising across these networks.

Describe how your website works.

Owners of digital out of home advertising networks can join our website absolutely free and have the opportunity for their locations to be featured in front of advertisers and ad agencies that have come to identify AdSemble as a secure and reliable destination for purchasing digital out of home advertising campaigns. For DOOH networks that wish to elevate their earnings capabilities, we have a SAAS platform that enhances their ability to connect to us and vice-versa, manage their inventory, run Analytics reports and have even greater access to potential ad stream revenue.

What markets and how many structures are involved?

We are currently primarily active in the SF Bay Area, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles markets with over 300 structures and growing.

What benefits does the AdSemble provide to an out of home advertising company?

The primary benefit AdSemble provides to an Out of Home Advertising company is the ability to grow its Ad revenue base. Ancillary benefits include the ability to manage their ad spot inventory and run unique data-driven analytics reports as well as have access to key market data insights such as pricing and metrics of complementary options in their markets, which can ultimately help them price their ad inventory more effectively.

There is a concern that automated buying will trigger a race to the bottom in pricing. What controls does the operator have on pricing

All sellers in the AdSemble Marketplace can set their own asking price for their ad space inventory. Just like in other platforms such as eBay, Priceline, the Real Estate market, etc. Buyers are able to freely evaluate and decide for themselves if the asking prices are too high, or just right. I don’t believe in the “race to the bottom pricing” rhetoric. If something has value, people will pay top dollar for it. As an example, a mansion in Palo Alto, CA is not going to trade for anything less than $2M and in fact, most likely, would receive offers that are over-asking. It all comes down to value.

What are the fees or commissions when an out of home company uses AdSemble?

AdSemble has as a very simple pricing structure:

Free- anyone who simply wants to add their locations to the Marketplace

Enterprise- pricing is tailored to the specific needs of a DOOH network with a worldwide reach.

In addition, we receive a 20% Marketplace transaction fee for all campaigns that are processed through our Marketplace.

What have been some successful AdSemble campaigns?”

Some very successful campaigns that have been processed through the AdSemble Marketplace include: San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer entire season long campaign. Dice.com “Hottest Tech Talent” campaign, Synopsys, Sanmina, Intel, and many other Fortune 500 companies.

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Author: billboardinsiderDave Westburg started billboard insider in September 2015 to provide a source of daily news and analysis for the outdoor business. He writes about what interests him as an outdoor advertising owner, lender and investor. You can reach Dave at billboardinsider@gmail.com or 206-910-1283.